PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners approved $290,000 for amending a contract with an engineering firm.
Kennedy Jenks was approved Tuesday for engineering, design and permitting for a new stormwater management system at the Intermodal Handling and Transfer Facility and for hiring an archaeological consultant.
Kennedy Jenks will be paid $252,000 to continue its work on the stormwater project and combine it with the port’s cofferdam rehabilitation project into a single set of bid documents with a draft of the bid package delivered to the port in May.
The final bid package, including a state Department of Ecology review, needs to be finished by September so the port can meet an October deadline for an Ecology grant. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2026 and be completed by that December.
Modifications to the existing Kennedy Jenks contract also were made to comply with terms outlined in a memorandum of agreement the port and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe signed Jan. 9. Those terms are intended to avert any negative impact on cultural resources.
In 2003, tribal artifacts and human remains were found at the site during a state Department of Transportation construction project, leading to its abandonment.
Because it is a legally protected archaeological site, a permit from the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation is required before any ground work can begin. The port allocated $38,000 for the services of a consultant to prepare and submit the appropriate documents to the department.
That amount pushed the project’s cost past the $252,000 the port had allocated for log yard improvements in 2025. Chris Hartman, the port’s director of engineering, said the overrun would be covered by the port’s capital contingency fund.
The amendment is the fourth for the stormwater project that began in 2015.
The original $250,000 Kennedy Jenks contract to complete bid documents was approved by port commissioners in February 2019. Two years later, the contract was amended for the first time at a cost of $131,000 to take into account changes that reflected recommendations in a 2020 archaeological survey and meetings with the tribe.
The second amendment in February 2022 included an engineering report for the state Department of Ecology that added $93,000 to the cost.
A third amendment at a cost of $33,000 was approved by commissioners in October 2022 for design changes demanded by Ecology.
The four amendments to the Kennedy Jenks agreement total $509,000, bringing its contract to $759,000. The addition of an archeological consultant bumps the overall cost to $797,000.
Considerations of the election of port officers for 2025 and port representation with organizations was suspended on Tuesday until Jan. 28 due to commissioner Colleen McAleer’s excused absence.
Commissioners also met Tuesday to discuss for the Industrial Development Corporation of the Port of Port Angeles. The IDC is a separate municipal corporation of the port that can issue low-interest, tax-free revenue bonds on behalf of private businesses.
Commissioners Connie Beauvais and Steve Burke agreed that officers for the IDC would be the same as for the port’s regular board, which will be decided at its Jan. 28 meeting.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
